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Monday, January 19, 2009

I really wanted to try my hand at making homemade bread. I don't have a bread machine, yet that is. So I'll be baking bread the good old fashioned way. I came across this recipe for Amish White Bread.

I'm not sure if this is a true Amish white bread recipe, but it sounded really easy to make. When i was searching for a white bread recipe, I wanted it to be a Amish or a Mennonite recipe.

I love Amish and Mennonite cooking there is just something about it that is so intriguing to me. I think it is just that everything is made from scratch the way it used to be. I love cooking from scratch. I did not want a recipe that was to difficult since this was my first attempt at making homemade bread.

I was a little intimidated at first but the process went a lot smoother than I thought it would. Yeast rolls and breads are my all time favorite. Nothing is better than hot homemade bread or rolls right out of the oven.

I found this recipe to be very versatile and easy to convert. What I mean by that is I made one loaf of plain white bread and one cinnamon swirl bread, both tasting awesome. This dough is perfect to make cinnamon rolls or even cinnamon raisin bread.

I read the reviews carefully before I began and took the advice of a few readers on decreasing the sugar to 1/3 cup instead of 2/3 cup. I thought that it made such a difference for making the plain white bread.

I will be using this recipe the next time I make cinnamon rolls, but for that recipe i would recommend using the full required 2/3 cup sugar. My family loved this bread! we finished off the cinnamon swirl loaf the first day. So I will definitely be making this recipe again and again.

These are the ingredients you will need: Bread Flour, Yeast, Salt, Sugar, Oil and Water

In a large bowl, dissolve the sugar in warm water, and then stir in yeast. Allow to proof until yeast resembles a creamy foam.

Mix salt and oil into the yeast.

Mix in flour one cup at a time.

Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth.

the dough will look like this.

Place in a well oiled bowl, and turn dough to coat.

Cover with a damp cloth. Allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. I place a bowl of hot water on the lowest rack of my oven under my bread bowl.

Punch dough down. My daughter could not wait to do this part LOL.

Knead for a few minutes, and divide in half.

sorry for the blurry pic my dd was taking the pictures for me.

I wanted to make one white bread loaf and one cinnamon swirl loaf. Whether you want plain white bread or cinnamon swirl bread I do the same practice of rolling the dough up for both recipes. (Roll the dough into a rectangle about 1/4 - 1/2 inch thick. Then roll the dough up from the shortest end to the other.

*If making cinnamon swirl bread just spread some softened butter on top of the dough and sprinkle with a mixture of brown sugar and cinnamon. Roll up and continue with rising and baking.

just like this pinch off your ends and

place into two well oiled 9x5 inch loaf pans

Allow to rise for 30 minutes, or until dough has risen 1 inch above pans.

just like this. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 minutes.

let cool in the baking pans for just a bit

then remove to a baking rack and cool bread completely. Brush the top of the bread loaves with melted butter. Let completely cool before attempting to slice.

Amish White Bread

2 - cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)1/3 - 2/3 - cup white sugar1 1/2 - tablespoons active dry yeast1 1/2 - teaspoons salt1/4 - cup vegetable oil6 - cups bread flourIn a large bowl, dissolve the sugar in warm water, and then stir in yeast. Allow to proof until yeast resembles a creamy foam. Mix salt and oil into the yeast. Mix in flour one cup at a time. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth.Place in a well oiled bowl, and turn dough to coat. Cover with a damp cloth. Allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. Punch dough down. Knead for a few minutes, and divide in half. Shape into loaves, and place into two well oiled 9x5 inch loaf pans.Allow to rise for 30 minutes, or until dough has risen 1 inch above pans. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 minutes.

Cinnamon Swirl Bread:Roll out bread and spread on some softened butter. Sprinkle on a mixture of brown sugar and cinamon sugar. Roll up and continue with rising and baking. There is not rule on how much of the sugar mixture to add it's all up to you on how much you want.

Your bread turned out perfect!! I knew you could do it. :) It looks beautiful. To be honest, I prefer the old fashioned way of bread making over a bread machine any day. Bread machines produce much smaller loaves, and you only get one loaf at a time! Making it by hand is not that much more effort really once you get the hang of it and then you not only get larger loaves, but two of them at a time!

I love Amish and Mennonite recipes too! In fact, tonight's dinner and dessert were both from a Mennonite cookbook that I have. I love the simplicity. Your bread looks just wonderful! I love homemade bread. We do have a bread machine, and it simplifies the process, but I think it's wonderful to make it without the machine too.

Oh Jess I know you can do this. Like I said It was so much easier than I thought it would be.

Hi Patti, that bread smelled so darn good cooking, I could hardly wait for it to cool to get a slice. I hope you mother is doing better. ((Hugs))

My New 30 - Definitly try this recipe. I have to admit now that i know i can make it homemade I really want to stick to baking bread this way.

Hi Angie I havent seen you for a while LMK how the bread turns out when you try you hand at this recipe.

Hi Stephanie, I bet that cookbook you have is awesome. I want to get the cooking from quilt country. That cookbook is really goo. I think i am like you I love the simplicitly of amish and mennonite cooking.

Hey thats pretty good for a first try, you should have never told :). I love Amish bread to, we have an Amish village called Muddy ponds not far from where I grew up at that we would go to a lot. And do not waste your money on a bread machine the bread does not taste or look half as good as this. I do not even use mine, nothing beats the old fashioned way.

Also, Tina how did you get the print recipe now option on your recipes? I have been trying to do this for months now.

Hi Noor, If you look closely when you click on the "print recipe option" it is just a new blog from blogger. I got this brilliant idea from Stephanie over at Live Love Eat. Just set up a second blog and then start adding your recipes as you add them to your primary blog. Then make a clickable print option and insert into your post.

Guess what I just took out of the oven :D Yep, 2 yummy loaves of bread, One cinnamon and one plain :D LOVE the cinnamon, Ive never had it before, havent cut into the plain yet, they are soo pretty too hehe, my house smells SOO good, Carm

Firfox (Mozilla) didn't allow the "click to read more" section on the post for some reason...who know's. But when I clicked on the title of the post it brought me to the recipe. This looks so easy and yummy! Thanks for posting it.

P.S. Thanks for your help on the other issue. I appreciate it more than you know. *smile*

My family loved this bread. I made the cinnamon swirl and one regular, of course the cinnamon swirl loaf got eaten in one day. One question??? I can make the bread to where it turns out great with the exception of it not getting done in the middle. I have this problem with other bread recipes as well.I baked the bread for 30 minutes and it was still a little doughy in the middle. If I bake it longer it burns on the top. Not sure what I'm doing wrong??

Yea! I have been trying since last Christmas to make homemade bread, and it just kept falling short no matter what I did. Until today! I followed this recipe (using only 1/3 c sugar for regular bread) and these instructions and it turned out perfectly! I put 1/2 in a loaf pan and half cut up into roll size buns in a round cake pan. It was SO great! Kids are already fighting over it! Thanks for posting a good recipe with good instructions. Sometimes, bread recipes are written in a way that a new breadmaker has many opportunities to not get it quite right and it can be really discouraging.Thanks again!

Mine was a total bust. I have no idea why. When you add the yeast are you supposed to continue stirring until the foam appears or let it sit? This could be the only place I went wrong. I also warmed the water on the stove to reach the specified temperature. Could I have just used the warmest water from the tap? First attempt ever and a little discourage. Help! Thanks!--Lindsey

I found this recipe a few weeks ago and i will never ever change it!!! We had a terrible ice storm here and all the bread, milk, and batteries were gone from the store shelves!! I knew we would be fine without milk for a few days but my son loves bread and i decided to just make the bread at home for the first time ever!!! And it was absolutely wonderfully PERFECT!!! thank you so much for sharing this recipe!! Ill never buy bread from a store agin!!

Mine doesn't seem to be rising within the 30 minutes mentioned after its in the pan, also I was never able to successfully get my dough smooth, it seemed so dry that I had a hard time getting all of the flour to mix in. Also, I may have made the mistake of putting the oven on warm while it was rising in the bowl. I just turned it back on warm to see if that will help it rise to 1 inch above the pan. I don't think I'm going to get the light and fluffy texture on this go around.

The recipe states Allow to rise for 30 minutes, or until dough has risen 1 inch above pans. If it does not rise then it could be your yeast. It might not be good or you could of killed the yeast by using too hot of water. The dough also needs to rise in a warm place if using the oven it should be off not on warm. I would get new yeast and try again.